I wanted to escape myself! Stitch's Great Escape at the Magic Kingdom
Written: Mar 03 '05 (Updated Mar 31 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fastpass is available, so wait time can be cut down.
Cons: Uncomfortable seating, confusing plot, frightening for small children, generally overrated.
The Bottom Line: This was a disappointing new attraction that will probably not last too long.
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| chelledun's Full Review: Stitch's Great Escape |
*Spoiler alert – This review discusses plot details of the attraction.
Since my family visits Disney with embarrassing frequency, new attractions are a big deal for us and highly anticipated. Disney had been hyping Stitch’s Great Escape as its replacement for the short-lived Alien Encounter for our past several visits. However, I am disappointed to report we are sadly disappointed with this new attraction. Disney’s website (www.disneyworld.disney.go.com) warns the guest to be prepared for “hilarious high-jinks when Stitch unleashes his naughty self in this out-of-control, high-energy escapade complete with sights, sounds, and ewwww-smells!” Unfortunately, the whole attraction stunk.
The Preshow
The point of this whole adventure is difficult to assess from the show. However, after consultation with all three of the other members of my family, I will attempt to piece together the plot of this attraction. The show starts with a brief pre-show by way of explanation. Viewers begin their journey by meeting a robot whose task is to train them to handle, for some reason, interspace criminals. The training session begins by introducing the visitors to level one criminals, who appear to be guilty of interstate infractions such as jaywalking. The aliens are cute and fuzzy and appear in two containment tubes. However, suddenly an emergency alarm sounds to alert everyone to the presence of not a level one, or two, alien, but…a level three! With this set-up, guests are released to a theater which surrounds the containment tube for the level three alien.
The Theater
This theater presentation is hosted in a round theater which has seen little modification since Alien Encounter was housed there, and even since the long ago Mission to Mars attraction had this space as its home. It seems Disney is exhibiting a stubborn insistence to cling to the already built round space and try to force different attractions to center around the concept. Although this attraction moves very little, for some reason each individual guest is secured with a shoulder harness. These harnesses seem to be more restrictive than those of any other ride at Disney, which leads to a somewhat claustrophobic feeling. One piece of advice is to sit up as straight as possible when the harness is dropping! If you slouch or allow the harness to push you down, you will be trapped in an awkward slouching position for the remainder of the show. This is learned from personal experience.
Stitch Appears!
At this point, guests are seated around a giant containment tube. Loud noises sound and lights flash, and suddenly Stitch, the six-armed alien from the popular children’s movie “Lilo and Stitch”, appears in the center tube. Although the character in the movie is lovable and endearing, the Stitch in this attraction is NOT. For some inexplicable reason, Stitch begins spitting fluid at the audience and making frightening noises. At one point, he actually burps, producing a very stinky odor. Then, something goes wrong and the containment system malfunctions! Stitch is on the loose!
The next several moments take place almost entirely in the dark. Stitch can be heard scampering around the room and making noises, and continues to spit and breath on individuals. Finally, of course, Stitch is re-trapped and zapped out of the room.
Who is this ride for?
Perhaps one of the biggest problems with this ride is it seems to lack a niche obvious. The use of the popular Stitch character seems to attract small children who are familiar with the movie. However, the actual experience is intense for small children, as most of those in the room with us were crying throughout most of the attraction. The combination of dark, intense noise, and a restrictive shoulder harness seems to do little to distinguish this ride from the bomb of Alien Encounter. Additionally, having a lovable movie character turned into a scary alien seems as though it would be somewhat disturbing to a child. Older riders, by contrast, will find the special effects nothing spectacular and the actual experience somewhat a bore. I also found the theater to be hot and uncomfortable and didn’t particularly enjoy being spit on. It seems to me that Disney has missed the mark with this attraction.
Oddly, the theme park is heavily marketing this ride. Stitch stuffed animals outnumbered Mickey and Goofy in the gift stores, and images of the ride were plastered all over the parks, billboards, and even the monorails. It seems Disney hoped its ride would have mass appeal. However, unfortunately, Stitch’s Great escape has turned out to be uncomfortable and frightening to children at worst, and forgettable at best.
When to visit...
If you decide to try to visit this attraction, keep in mind it is new and slow loading. I recommend either visiting first thing or obtaining a FASTPASS to come back later at an assigned time for a much shorter wait. With our fast pass, the wait time was about ten minutes.
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Magic Kingdom for Adults
Recommended:
No
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